Villa Gyllenberg
I visited the Villa Gyllenberg’s Schjerfbeck & fashion exhibition in Kuusisaari, Helsinki with my mum. A toddler accompanied us, but he slept through the whole visit – he didn't even know he'd been to a museum in the first place.
Now that I checked the opening hours, I noticed the museum added information that the first opening hours have been super popular, so if you want to try to avoid the rush hour, pick later visiting hours.
I warmly recommend the exhibition to anyone interested in the history of fashion!
“Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) loved both painting and fashion, and in her portraits the model’s attire was an integral part of the work.” I also learned that she often sewed her garments, but did also order clothing from Paris, and found inspiration for her paintings from French fashion magazines.
In addition to Schjerfbeck’s works, the exhibition presents artwork from several other painters and includes examples of fashion through different eras. My favorites are seen above, the striped dress from 1942 and the painting "Woman in a Yellow Swimming Suit" by Venny Soldan-Brofelt from the 1940's.
The house museum (former home of the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg) was also a new acquaintance. I admired the large windows and tried to calculate how many plants I could fit on the sill!